


By Halves

by solohux



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Force Ghost(s), Love Confessions, M/M, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:02:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22320751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solohux/pseuds/solohux
Summary: Armitage Hux is living in secret on Arkanis, recovering from being shot and avoiding the fallout of the war. His exile, however, is interrupted when he's visited by Ben Solo's Force ghost.And Kylo Ren's.Based on@nefastidies'samazing artwork.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren
Comments: 16
Kudos: 221





	By Halves

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so, so much to the amazing [@nefastidies](http://nefastidies.tumblr.com/) for allowing me to write a fic based on your [incredible artwork](https://nefastidies.tumblr.com/post/190200367676/thats-not-how-the-force-works-or-is-it#notes) of Ben & Kylo's ghosts arguing with Hux in the middle. The artist has since created a Part II to the comic but this was written before that so it doesn't coincide with that, just Part I, sorry!
> 
> Also, there's **no mcd** in the sense that no deaths happen in this fic but, obviously, Kylo/Ben is dead after being so badly wounded by Palpatine and then healing Rey. If that isn't your thing then click away! ❤️
> 
> I hope everyone enjoys! ❤️

This certainly isn’t what Hux had imagined for himself post-war but given the crisis that the First Order fell into and the rivalry against Pryde, hiding out on Arkanis seems like the best possible outcome. The gloomy, rain-dominated planet hasn’t changed much in the thirty years since Hux was last here, though admittedly, he hardly remembers much of it; being escorted from the planet by a bounty hunter in the middle of a siege tends to impede the memory on the more commonplace things.

But up until the siege, Hux recalls feeling safe on Arkanis, a feeling he very much yearns for now in this unfamiliar time of his life. The First Order may still be alive in fractions across the galaxy but the common folk continue to rise against them, and what chance does an injured ex-General have against a legion of hope? He’s already lost, he lost the moment Ren became Supreme Leader—

Ren. Hot-headed, foolhardy Kylo Ren. Hux stomps hard in a puddle as he walks home through the drizzle, angry at the Knight Of Ren for being the source of the _majority_ of Hux’s shortcomings. He mutters profanities to himself, gaining a few funny looks from passing strangers which only give Hux a little pang of panic shooting through his chest, thinking that he may have been recognised. A quick check and Hux finds that his black woolly hat is still on his head and is still completely hiding his bright red hair but just to be safe, he pulls the hood of his grey coat up too, resting it just over his brow to hide as much of his face as he can.

The Arkanisian people are renowned for their ability to disregard things that don’t interest them and for that, Hux is grateful. He may as well be invisible as he walks down the street from the grocery emporium, bag barely half-full with bits of cheap food that he can afford. With very little money left in his pocket after he emptied his private account of all his credits, Hux knows that he’ll have to find work very soon if he wants to carry on eating. At least he has a roof over his head; luckily, his father still had a few sympathisers lying in wait for Commandant Hux to return one day to ignite the fire of the old Empire and take Arkanis back from the New Republic.

‘ _Senile fools,’_ Hux thinks to himself, faking a smile to old Colonel Byres, the man who offered Hux the chalet in his plot of land neighbouring his own grand mansion after Hux had played the grieving son in the hopes of being given shelter free-of-charge. Byres had talked fondly of Brendol, of the days of the Empire, and offered Hux the annex that his relatives use when they come to visit him, telling him that he’s so happy that Hux survived the fall and that he’s continuing his father’s good work.

Hux had wiped away fake tears and thanked the man for helping him, promising to repay him one day, having no real intention to ever do anything but kill the old man in his sleep and take the mansion for himself. Even now, as Hux passes the old man in his front garden as he returns home too, Hux courteously bows his head and forces a smile, making sure to continue his bit about pretending to give a damn about Brendol’s _‘legacy’_ or reviving the old Empire. If anything, Hux wants the old Empire completely eliminated from the history books and replace it with the mighty victories of the First Order with him at the helm, all before Supreme Leader Ren’s chaotic rule.

Ren. Careless, _beautiful_ Kylo Ren. No! Just as Hux steps over the threshold of his three-room home, he feels himself succumbing to thoughts about Ren, remembering his soft eyes and his gentle hands—no. Hux bites his lip, taking away his traitorous thoughts about the man he once ran to for comfort. Before Snoke’s death, before the scavenger girl, before the map to Skywalker, Hux thought that he and Ren would rule the galaxy someday once they were free of Snoke’s malicious input.

Clearly, Hux thinks, as he puts his groceries away, his and Ren’s destines changed once they separated, changing from Armitage and Kylo to General Hux and Master Ren, strangers, eventually becoming an ex-General in hiding and a dead man. Ren’s demise shouldn’t have shocked Hux but it did, hearing rumours of the last Jedi telling a story about General Organa’s son renouncing the dark side to fight against Palpatine before being killed by him. As Hux said, _careless._

Taking his hat and coat off, Hux kicks his boots off too and ruffles his hair in the hopes that he’ll forget about Ren one day and move on, perhaps find another dark-haired brute to ruin his life.

For now, he’s alone. The chalet, too, is a dump but it’s warm and it’s private and better than a New Republic prison cell or a Hutt’s entertainment barge as a slave dancer. _That_ certainly isn’t the life of luxury that Hux wants for himself either. Simplicity is the key at the moment, lying low and staying alive.

But as Hux kneels down in front of the fireplace, he aggravates his chest wound and a pain as terrible as death stabs him straight through the ribs like a red-hot spear, making him cry out and fall forward onto his hands. Steadying his breathing, Hux daren’t move a muscle until the pain settles and the fiery hand around his lungs has uncurled its grip and slipped away.

“Damn it,” Hux mutters and finishes lighting the fire before standing up, fearing that he’s torn the bacta patches from his wound.

He unbuttons his soft black shirt and checks his bandaging, finding that the wound from Pryde’s blaster is still healing, barely two weeks old. Bacta seems to have done all it can, leaving a plethora of dark bruising around the bloody injury in the middle of his chest. He barely remembers what happened. He _thought_ his ‘spy’ plan may have some hitches but he didn’t foresee Pryde finding out about him and shooting with the intent to kill. Everything after the shot had landed is a blur, bits and pieces are there but nothing concrete. Waking up in an escape pod with a medical droid tending to his bleeding chest, beeping and booping about how it’s a miracle that he’s alive.

The escape pod has jettisoned, landing on a heavily industrialised planet where he rested in a hostel for a few days before hitching a ride back to Arkanis.

“I’m too old for this,” Hux says to himself. He _feels_ old for the first time in a long time, aching all over and expecting the cold hand of death to be around every corner. Old, because everything around him is changing and everyone he’s ever cared about is gone. Isn’t that what growing old is? Watching love ones die?

‘ _Hux.’_

Hux spins around so quickly that his injury throbs with pain but he ignores his strife, fearing insanity has crept into his mind whilst he’s been preoccupied with his physical wound. In front of him stands a tall figure, glowing blue and looking _almost_ transparent as though he’s a…Impossible. Ghosts aren’t real, of course they’re not. He’s merely imagining things, hallucinating as a result of his exhaustion, but the man in front of him looks so _real,_ so similar to the love that Hux left behind before the hunt for Skywalker began.

It’s Ren, but at the same time, it isn’t. There’s no scar on his face, he’s wearing a _sweater,_ of all things, and his hair is so fluffy that it’s almost obscene. But it can’t be him because, most importantly, Ren is dead.

“Well,” the ghost says, and Hux’s skin prickles with goosebumps. It has Ren’s voice. He rubs the back of his neck, looking awkward. “Hello?”

The _audacity_ of him makes Hux scowl.

“‘ _Hello’_?!” Hux grits his teeth. In the pit of his stomach, he feels an ugly mix of emotions rising and churning inside of him but he ignores them _all._ “Aren’t you _dead_?! Isn’t _that_ a good enough reason for you to stop bothering me, Ren?”

“Wait!” The ghost calls out as Hux takes a step back, making him stop. They stare at each other for a moment, and Hux feels like he’s looking at a stranger. Something isn’t right. “I’m Ben!”

“ _Ben.”_ The name tastes foreign on Hux’s tongue; he dislikes it immensely.

“Yes. I came to tell you that I’m sor—”

“No! Don’t you dare!” Hux is yelling now, livid. “I don’t want to hear any of your bantha shi—”

“Yes. You are not welcome here.” A third voice has joined the heated conversation, one that sounds identical to Ben’s but doesn’t unnerve Hux.

Behind him, another blue, shadowy figure has appeared but this time, Hux recognises him wholeheartedly. A scar runs down his face, cutting an imposing look across his youthful cheek. His strong body adorns black robes and a long cape, and his hair is messy and brushed back out of his face for convenience.

Ren. Mighty, magnificent Kylo Ren. Hux can’t bring himself to say anything, too amazed and confused at seeing his once-lover again despite being parted by death.

Kylo sneers at his counterpart, “I will not apologise for anything in my life. Ever.”

His gaze is so stern that even Ben seems to cower underneath its steely coldness.

“You,” Hux’s eyes widen, turning his back on Ben to fully look at Kylo, taking in everything about his ghostly form. “I like this one.”

“ _Hey!”_ Ben shouts from behind him. “We’re the _same_ person _!”_

“No, no, we’re not,” Kylo says, stepping in front of Hux to face Ben. “The Force felt the conflict in my soul when I died. It separated us into two entities. One light, one dark. You and me. Different, except for looks.”

“I beg to differ,” Hux says, reaching up to touch Kylo’s scarred face, only to find that his hand falls through him. “Oh.”

“I’m not going to apologise to you, Hux,” Kylo says, speaking as though Ben isn’t there. “One reason being that you wouldn’t accept it if I did.”

“True,” Hux nods. “I wouldn’t want to hear your grovelling. Then what _do_ you want?”

“To stop _him_ from seeing you.”

“I _want_ to apologise to him,” Ben cuts in. “The way you treated him—!”

“I _know,”_ Kylo yells.

“So you don’t deserve a chance to _speak_ to him! You could have killed him!”

“He wanted to kill _me_!”

“True,” Hux shrugs, remembering the moment he stood in the throne room and pulled his blaster on Kylo’s unconscious form: a passing shadow where he thought he could end his suffering.

“Well,” Ben flounders for a moment, running his hands through his hair but Hux isn’t distracted by him. “I’ve been inside your head, Kylo. I know that you regret how you treated him.”

“I do.”

“So, _do something!_ Make it up to him! Show him! Or he’ll choose _me!”_

“He’s _alive,_ because of me!”

Everyone is silenced. Hux stares wide-eyed at Kylo, who’s looking anywhere but.

“I don’t understand,” Ben shakes his head, confused.

“Hux survived being shot point-blank in the chest because of _me,_ ” Kylo confesses. “I felt him die and I…felt a part of me die with him. It’s _Hux_ , it’s always been him.”

“Ren…” Hux exhales.

“I rescued him,” Kylo continues, still speaking to Ben. “He was still clinging onto his last breath when I found him. I did my best to heal his wound but after bringing him back from the brink of death, I had no strength left. I couldn’t let anyone see him so I…I put him in an escape pod with a medical droid.” He finally turns to look at Hux, and Hux finally sees the lost boy he fell in love with so many years ago. “I won’t say sorry now because I said it then. When you lay there, barely breathing but _alive,_ I kissed you and told you how sorry I was for hurting you. I came to terms with the final goodbye, I knew I wouldn’t see you again, and that was what was best for you. I don’t deserve you or your forgiveness. But _he—he had to interfere._ ”

Hux is _astounded._ Kylo is responsible for saving his life, for getting him into the escape pod and letting the medical droid take care of the rest. So many thoughts and emotions run through Hux’s heart and mind that he almost begins to hyperventilate but before he can say a thing, Ben starts up again.

“You sent him away when he was still dying,” Ben argues, still irritated.

“You’re so _blind,_ ” Kylo shouts. “This has _nothing_ to do with you!”

“I was there when you were throwing him into walls and choking him!”

“I’ve said _sorry!”_

“Not _to_ him!”

“That’s _enough!”_ Hux shouts, stamping his foot and marching in between the two arguing souls. “Enough, both of you. I don’t need to be spoken for. Silence, from now on.”

Kylo looks as though he’s about to say something but a sharp glare from Hux and he shuts his mouth, biting his lip. Ben, too, chews on his bottom lip; clearly, a nervous tick shared by both boys. He looks to Kylo, then to Ben, and sighs. How the universe much hate him to cut his lover in two and make him decide. Kylo, his once-lover who, yes, caused him some physical damage, but Ben, soft and lost, wanting to make everything right. Are they truly two halves of a whole soul? He approaches Ben slowly, carefully, feeling residual pain from his chest wound start to take him but he focusses on Ben, looking at his unscarred face, remembering that this is how Kylo _used_ to look when they first met.

“You have his eyes,” Hux says, staring up at Ben. He sees the Jedi’s hands twitch by his sides as though hesitating in reaching to touch him but he chooses to stay still when he sees Hux’s scowl. “And I hate you for that.”

“I have his heart too, Tidge.”

“Do _not_ call me that. Only _he_ gets to call me that,” Hux turns around, his back to Ben, wanting to never see him again. “Impossible. You can’t have his heart. He told me once that I’d _always_ have his heart, for he has mine.”

Kylo has tears in his eyes. Can ghosts cry? It would seem so, Hux realises, as he closes the gap between himself and Kylo until they’re chest-to-chest, unable to touch but it’s enough to be in each other’s presence.

“Hux,” Ben whispers. “Please.”

“Leave,” Hux commands, still with his gaze locked with Kylo’s. “You aren’t mine, Ben Solo. You’re nothing.”

Hux expects Ben to burst with anger, yell something in a foreign tongue, but he doesn’t. He stays silent, bowing his head and accepting his fate, much akin to how he showed his belly the moment the dark side offered him power and Kylo came to dominate. Hux turns just in time to see Ben’s ghost fade away into thin air, disappearing completely until he’s left staring at true nothing.

“Hux.”

A familiar hand slides over Hux’s own, taking hold and squeezing tight. The action sends shivers across Hux’s skin, _good_ shivers; he hasn’t felt this content in a while. But how? He looks down, finding Kylo’s ghostly hand entwined with his own, his thumb smoothing backwards and forwards over Hux’s skin, and Hux can _feel_ it.

“But,” Hux looks up at him, “I thought—”

“He’s gone,” Kylo says, taking hold of Hux’s other hand. “I’m whole, I’m _me_ again. No Ben Solo, no light. Just me, and just you.”

“How do you know that’s what I want?”

“I don’t,” Kylo blinks, another set of tears fall. “Ask me to leave you alone and I will, I promise. I’ve done enough harm for a lifetime, Hux. Tell me to go and you’ll never see me again.”

Kylo slides his hands free of Hux’s, pulling away and stepping back. The Arkanisian rain hammers down on the roof of the house, shattering their silence but it does nothing to quell Hux’s raging emotions.

“Goodbye, Hux,” Kylo whispers.

“ _No,_ ” Hux jolts forward, grabbing Kylo’s hand and pulling him back. “Stay. I’m asking you to stay. Don’t leave me, not again.”

As though they’re two old souls who’ve been kept separated for centuries, Hux reaches up to hold Kylo’s pale cheek in his palm, supressing a sob of relief when he’s able to _feel_ his skin—he hadn’t realised that he’d missed Kylo so much—and brings their lips together desperately. He feels Kylo kiss back with equal force, his free hand sliding around Hux’s slim hips to hold him in place, anchoring him to this moment.

This certainly isn’t what Hux had imagined for himself post-war but given the fact that his almost-lover has come back from the other side, spending the rest of his life with him seems like the best possible outcome.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Thank you for reading!
> 
> And thank you so much again to [@nefastidies](http://nefastidies.tumblr.com/) for creating such amazing Kylux artwork and being a source of inspiration! Go & follow her!
> 
> My tumblr is [@solohux](http://solohux.tumblr.com/) ❤️
> 
> And I'm also on twitter now! Find me [@solohuxx](https://mobile.twitter.com/solohuxx) 💙


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